Black Mountain optimistic about return of water service

Mayor Michael Sobol encourages residents to prepare for ‘grassroots effort’

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 3, 2024

The Town of Black Mountain continues to hold a series of daily public meeting in town square. Photo by Fred McCormick

Hints of optimism emerged in the Black Mountain Town Square, Oct. 3, as local leaders held the latest in a series of daily public meetings. 

With town staff anticipating a possible return of water services by the end of the week, Mayor Michael Sobol is encouraging residents to come together for a lengthy recovery. 

Public Works Director Jamey Matthews addressed the crowd. offering updates on the town’s water and sewage infrastructure, both of which were severely damaged by the storm. While initial projections estimated the municipality would be without water for “weeks,” the system could be operational in the coming days. 

“(The City of Asheville) is working on an emergency 8-inch line to feed us water,” he said. “They told me they were waiting for sediment to settle to keep it from going into the system.”

Matthews made no promises, but offered an uplifting outlook. 

“My prediction is, you’re going to see water pumping by the end of the week,” he said. “I normally don’t give a day or time, and I’m still not going to, but I want you to know how close we are getting and how hard these guys are working.”

The town’s gravity-fed water distribution system will require crews to fill its above-ground storage tanks.

“Both of our tanks are empty, so we have to get 13 feet of water in a 1.2 million gallon tank to build up enough pressure to push that water into the system to see these other leaks,” Matthews said. “I can’t tell you what a milestone that is to be that close, compared to other people.”

The sewer system, which suffered from “serious devastation” in the storm is being reconstructed.

“They’re going to get it back on, just be patient,” Matthews said.

Ninety percent of the town’s roads are clear of debris, according to the public works director, while the remaining lanes of travel

“The few remaining, we can’t handle,” he said. “Either they are bridges or roads that are completely gone or non-salvageable. But, we’re working on that, too.”

Electricity is being restored at a steady pace, he continued.

“They’re getting power back up and cutting trees down as fast as they can,” Matthews said.

Sanitation is a marathon and not a sprint, he continued, as the town has positioned dumpsters at the Black Mountain Ingles and near the strip mall on Old U.S. and Flat Creek Road. .

“We’ve got somebody that’s working 24/7, and when those dumpsters get full they’re on their way to dump them,” Matthews said.

Mayor Michael Sobol, who addressed the public for the first time since the arrival of Helene, relayed a message he shared with Governor Roy Cooper.

“When the governor, the head of FEMA and other dignitaries came to town, I told him, ‘some communities have folks who just live in the community, others have folks who live off the community,” he said. “I told him we have folks who live for the community. I firmly believe that.”

The mayor expressed the need for a “coordinated plan” as Black Mountain enters a recovery period.

“Even though FEMA is here and will do a tremendous amount to help us, we’re going to have to do a lot ourselves,” he said. “This is going to be a grassroots effort, so the coordination is going to take some time. If we work with the various churches and nonprofit organizations, we can make a plan that we can follow through on for the next several months.”

Sobol plans to contact the Swannanoa Valley Medical Center to serve as a coordinating nonprofit agency to raise money for the town’s recovery.

“At this particular juncture, resources are not needed as much as money is going to be,” he said. “One prong of the plan is to go to various organizations and see if we can get gift cards.”

The mayor asked for people interested in volunteering to contact him, while encouraging the community to focus on mental health.

“More importantly, if you see somebody, give them a smile,” he said. “It’s probably the best gift you can give.”